The Punjab University became a virtual battleground on Thursday when dozens of activists allegedly belonging to the Islami Jamiat Tulaba, which is also suspected of having a hand in student violence in Peshawar recently, went berserk on campus.
Enraged by expulsions on disciplinary grounds, they beat up a senior faculty member, leaving him bloodied and unconscious. They also ransacked the vice-chancellor’s office and residence. Such aggression against a teacher has been unprecedented at the university. Of course the university has a long and bloody history of student violence. But there have been few recent incidents of clashes among rival student groups spilling over. The last such incident took place in 2007 when some students humiliated cricket hero Imran Khan on campus.
Even though the trigger for violence was different in the two incidents, the result was identical: terrified teachers refusing to take classes unless the perpetrators of violence were brought to book. Meeting this demand means the Punjab government’s taking action against the culprits. It would also have to act against the intimidating ideologues and threatening bullies operating in the university as members of the student wing of a political party with religious moorings. The university administration says it has written to the provincial government more than once, asking for the police to take action. But this exercise has been in vain. The government was conspicuous by its inaction during Thursday’s violence making the university administration and staff even more nervous.
The only way to restore peace and normalcy on campus is administrative action aimed at ejecting all those responsible for violence in the present as well as in the past. The activists of this student organisation have wielded control at the Punjab University for so long that they would resist any action perceived as a threat to their influence and power. Fortunately, they have lost support among the students and their ideological influence over the teachers is also on the wane. They no longer have the strength to thwart action against them. The time, it seems, is right to take strict action against them lest they once more resort to violence.
Mohammed Abbasi 